Abstract
Professor Paul Grasso, consultant, pathologist, toxicologist, researcher, and lecturer (b. Malta, 1923, q. Malta, 1949, MD, FRC Path, FBTS, DTM&H), died on February 28, 2010 after a long struggle with Parkinsons disease.
Following an appointment in the United Kingdom, Paul joined the Colonial Medical Service in 1952 with an initial assignment to the Medical Field Unit in British Cameroon. Three years later, he transferred to Nigeria and headed the Department of Pathology at Lagos General Hospital. In 1963 Paul returned to the United Kingdom and joined the British Industrial Biological Research Association (BIBRA), an organization that researched and evaluated human health risks from chemicals present in food and the environment and with which he remained for some fifteen years. He became chief pathologist at the association, rising to the position of deputy director in 1972. Six years later, Paul became senior toxicologist/pathologist at British Petroleum, where he dealt with major occupational health issues. In 1983 he was appointed as a consultant in toxicology and professor of experimental pathology at the Robens Institute of Industrial and Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Surrey, where he spent the rest of his working life.
Paul also taught in the MSc Toxicology program at the University of Surrey from its inception in 1973. The course was established as a collaborative venture with Shell Research Centre, the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit, and BIBRA, all of which assisted with curriculum development, program delivery, and student assessment to provide a route into toxicology for graduates in suitable scientific disciplines. Paul was a key player and committed to ensuring that students graduated with a good grounding in toxicopathology.
Paul’s research resulted in over 100 scholarly publications. His final contribution, a book titled Essentials of Pathology for Toxicologists, was published in 2002 and dedicated to his wife, Adelaide. Probably Paul’s most notable work was with the subcutaneous sarcoma project at BIBRA, which had a significant impact on the way chemicals and drugs are tested for cancer-producing properties. Paul also served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He was a member of various professional societies and regularly presented his research findings at international conferences. He was highly respected in both the British and the international toxicology communities. In 2002 Paul received a special award from the British Society of Toxicological Pathology (BSTP) for services to toxicology. Many students and scientific colleagues owe a massive debt of gratitude to Paul, and he will be sorely missed by those privileged to have been associated with him.
Throughout his long career, he was a great teacher and mentor to a large number of histopathologists and toxicologists and remained a great advocate of using all of the toxicological specialties available to him in his research. This was a rich source of scientific publications to him, and his extensive collaborative endeavors allowed him great inroads into fundamental mechanisms of toxicology when his pathology contemporaries were still arguing over the vagaries of red/blue stains. The versatility and flexibility that he adopted in his approach to toxicology problems were the forerunners of the modern discipline of molecular toxicology in its broadest, and most progressive, sense, and his meticulous adoption of the scientific method has meant that his papers still rank among the most rigorous in his field of interest. From his studies on liver carcinogenesis and subcutaneous sarcoma, he identified the importance of cell proliferation in tumor development by nongenotoxic chemical carcinogens, and in particular, that such effects demonstrated a dose threshold below which the carcinogenic event would not take place. He was a quiet, thoughtful individual who gained the most beloved respect from his colleagues and friends.
Paul was an individual to whom the term “pioneer” can truly be applied in his chosen discipline of toxicological pathology. Much of the current day’s most productive individuals in the field have adopted Paul’s philosophy of using whatever toxicological techniques are appropriate for addressing a particular problem. His reluctance to limit himself to using familiar methods to address problems opened up all kinds of possibilities in his approaches to solving toxicological problems, and his great legacy lives on through the careers of his colleagues and students who had the privilege to work with him.
Notwithstanding his extraordinary scientific commitments, Paul also found time to indulge in his passion for clocks, which he would meticulously disassemble, repair, and restore. He also enjoyed amusing his family and friends with limericks–some humorous, some mischievous, but none bordering on any impropriety.
A devout Roman Catholic, Paul was a Chevalier and Knight Hospitalier of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, as well as a Knight of St. Columba. He leaves a wife, Adelaide, three sons, two daughters, and six grandchildren.